February 2013

Join NAMI in recognition of Black History Month with a special webinar feature of “Mother 4, 5 & 7,” a live one-act vignette performance that depicts how young children experience living a mother who struggles with drug addiction, paranoia and schizophrenia. The story is narrated as a memoir of the oldest child, ‘7,’ played by actress Cynda Williams, describing how it was to live with her mother’s illness and subsequent suicide. The story poignantly illustrates the problems of mental health from an ethnic perspective and poetically voices the need for better understanding of these issues.Register now!

AHRQ/ Electronic Data Methods Forum: eGEMs (Generating Evidence and Methods to improve patient outcomes). New open access journal focused on using electronic clinical data to advance research and quality improvement is now available.

Resources

NAMI recently re-launched StrengthofUs, its online resource center and social networking website uniquely designed for young adults living with mental health conditions, with a new design, new features and new content to engage and attract more young adults. Watch the video from the StrengthofUs “Think Positive” social media campaign (pictured right).

NAMI Sharing Hope initiative updates will be released next month with grant opportunities for NAMI sites interested in sharing vital mental health and recovery information and building partnerships with specific cultural communities: African-American, Sharing Hope, and Latino/Spanish-speaking communities,Compartiendo Esperanza. Informational webinars will be provided Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. ET (presented in Spanish on Compartiendo Esperanza) and Mar. 6 at 3 p.m. ET (presented in English on both Sharing Hope and Compartiendo Esperanza).Contact us to learn more or visit www.nami.org/sharinghope.

A new issue of NAMI’s vibrant bilingual magazine, ¡Avanzamos!, will be released early next month. This issue focuses on mental health in the criminal justice arena, featuring articles with expertise from the front lines—“Ask a Cop,” offers tips from crisis intervention trained officer and a NAMI advocate; “Never Give Up,” the story of a mother forging through available services to find recovery for her son; “Treatment, Not Jail,” expert NAMI staff commentary on options and available programs; a Q&A with a public defender from an innovated jail diversion program; and “Change in Perspective” a front line responder gains new expertise with own mental health condition. Subscribe and look for this new issue to hit your mailbox or email inbox soon.

Funding, training and fellowship

Congratulations to NAMI LGBT Networking Group member, Stephen Puibello (pictured right), for being selected to take part in the Voice Awards Fellowship Program supported by SAMHSA. In a Feb. 1, 2013 news bulletin, the administration identified the eight fellows selected in recognized as “champions of resilience and recovery.” Visit www.samhsa.gov/voiceawards/fellows.asp for more information about the Voice Awards Fellowship Program.

SAMHSA Native American Service to Science Initiative: dedicated to enhancing the evaluation capacity of innovative programs and practices that aim to prevent substance abuse and related mental and behavioral health problems or the underlying factors associated with increased risk. The initiative assists tribal program developers, implementers, and evaluators in applying more rigorous evaluation methodologies to their work. Download more information and application here. Applications due February 25.

Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards to Honor LGBTQ Youth Activists: an annual award program honoring inspiring lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, queer and questioning youth in the U.S., age 18 or younger, who have transformed experiences of bigotry and discrimination into taking action and working toward systems change. Three awardees will receive a $10,000 grant and expense-paid attendance of the 2014 National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Creating Change Conference. Nominations due Feb. 28.

Ethnic Community Self Help Program: The objective of this program is to strengthen organized ethnic communities comprised and representative of refugee populations to ensure ongoing support and services to refugees within five years after initial resettlement. Applications due March 22.

Latino Behavioral Health Institute call for presentations: The 19th annual Latino Behavioral Health Institute conference will be at the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown Hotel, September 11-13, 2013. The deadline for proposed presentations is 5:00 p.m. March 6 and must be received by email atambrose@lbhi.org.

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